1979–80 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season

The 1979–80 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the sixth indoor season of the club's existence.

Overview
The 1979–80 indoor season was the Tampa Bay Rowdies' sixth season of existence, and their sixth season of indoor play. As in previous years, all home games were played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was the first fully sanctioned indoor season in the North American Soccer League’s history and Tampa Bay lost only once at home. The Rowdies finished second in the Eastern Division, and qualified for the playoffs with an 8–4 record. They won five of six matches in the playoffs en route to winning the Eastern Division crown, the NASL indoor championship, and a 13–5 overall finish. Yugoslavian, Petar Baralić led the club with 21 goals in the regular season, and 23 across all competitions.

Playoffs
The Rowdies completely dismantled Detroit in the first round with a 12–1 victory. In the Eastern Division championship series they swept top-seeded Atlanta, 7–3 and 6–5. In the Championship finals Memphis took the first game, by a count of 5–4. Tampa Bay stormed back on the return leg, 10–4, to set up a tiebreaker. Peter Anderson scored the only goal of the deciding mini-game to give the NASL indoor title to the Rowdies. South African, Steve Wegerle led the team in the postseason with 11 goals. While presenting the championship trophy to Rowdies captain Jan van der Veen, NASL commissioner Phil Woosnam said, “It was only fitting, because Tampa Bay was instrumental in the development of indoor soccer.”

Management and technical staff

 * 🇺🇸 George W. Strawbridge, Jr., owner
 * 🇺🇸 Chas Serednesky, Jr., general manager
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Gordon Jago, head coach
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Keith Peacock, assistant coach
 * 🇺🇸 Ken Shields, trainer
 * 🇺🇸 Alfredo Beronda, equipment manager

Honors

 * NASL Indoor Champions: 1979–80
 * NASL Eastern Division Indoor Champions: 1979–80

Final standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, GB = Games Behind 1st Place, % = Winning Percentage, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Avg Att = Average Home Attendance

Season scoring
GP = Games played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points, Pen = Penalty Minutes

Season goalkeeping
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses

Playoff scoring
GP = Games played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points